Middle East - Fatah congress

Peace process in impasse, Abbas tells Fatah congress

Article published on the 2009-08-04 Latest update 2009-08-04 14:46 TU

Preparing the Fatah conference in Bethlehem
(Photo: AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on his Fatah movement to make a "fresh start" and admitted past errors, ahead of elections which will create a new leadership. The conference is the first that the movement has held since 1989.

Fatah, which has been the leading component of the Palestine Liberation Organisation for decades, has failed in a number of ways, said Abbas.

He cited "the impasse in the peace process, some of our attitudes which the public rejects, our weak performance, our losing touch with the pulse of the street, and our lack of discipline".

Fatah dominated the Palestinian Authority from its creation in 1994 until it was trounced by the Islamist Hamas movement in the 2006 election, leading to a deep split in Palestinian ranks.

In a 41-page policy draft to be put to the congress, the leadership proposes to regain the initiative in the peace process but repeats its refusal talk to Israel until settlement building ends in West Jerusalem and the West Bank.

About 2,000 delegates are meeting in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Israel has complied with a US request to allow about 400 delegates who live in exile to attend. But 450 delegates from Gaza have been prevented from leaving the territory by Hamas.

The key questions under debate are:

• Armed struggle: Despite widespread disappointment with the results of  the peace process, the leadership says it wants new talks with Israel but "we maintain our right to resort to legitimate resistance as guaranteed by international law", says Abbas.
• Leadership: Amid a bitter internal battle, about 100 candidates are standing for 21 seats on the Central Committee, while hundreds more are standing for 120 seats on the Revolutionary Council. Among the  best-known candidates are Marwan Barghouti, standing despite the fact that he is in an Israeli jail, and Mohammed Dahlan, former Fatah security chief in Gaza, accused of brutality and closeness to Washington.
• The Palestinian Authority: Voters cited corruption and disappointment with the results of the Oslo accords with Israel as reasons for deserting Fatah in 2006, while stalled progress towards a Palestinian state has led to calls to quit the peace process.

 "We have to study Fatah's options if negotations fail," former Palestinian minister Sofrian Abu Zaida told RFI's French service. "Should we go back to armed struggle or adopt new forms of struggle? Today that's unclear."

Fatah needs to rejuvenate itself, says British anlayst Rosemary Hollis.

"The younger generation needs to be allowed in to be more representative of the Palestinian people, especially those in the West Bank and Gaza," she told RFI. "And they need to revive and reform their platform as Fatah, partly to respond to the actual situation on the ground and partly to respond to the rivalry from the Hamas movement."